"Jesus loves the little children, all the little children of the world."
"Parents, do you want your twelve year old daughter to spend eternity with the Devil and Jack the Ripper? Then you need to be sure that she gets saved." (a direct quote from a revival evangelist at the church of my childhood).
"Connector 3", as it is called, is at exit 328, the interchange at I-75 and GA 3 south of Dalton, Georgia. There is a billboard just north of this interchange that has been there over three years. I don't know how much it costs per month to rent a billboard there, but I can't believe that it's very cheap. Some organization thinks the message on this billboard is of vital importance to the travelers along I-75.
This sign reads in big letters "Jesus is Lord." And then in smaller letters underneath it reads, "And you know it."
Since I pass that way quite often, I have read the sign many times and have had much time to contemplate its possible meaning. I read it this week and I still have no idea what the creators of the sign intend, so I can only guess.
This sign, as well as a multitude of signs in front of churches around here, seem to contain a rather menacing message. The intent of the words seem to be to strike fear in the heart of the reader. Last week I saw a church sign that read, "Stop, Drop and Roll won't work in hell." A few years ago during a triple digit heat wave, a local church sign read, "Hot? Think about hell." It is apparently very important to many Christians that people go to hell. You may say, "No, that's the point. They don't want people to go to hell." If that's so it seems to me the signs could be somewhat less threatening and a little more inviting. A little less of the evil Jesus and a little more of the good Jesus.
"Jesus is Lord and you know it" may mean just that. "You know that Jesus is Lord." But that's not the way it hits me. To me it's not that different than the other two signs I referenced. To me it's saying "Jesus is Lord. I'm quite sure that you (average I-75 traveler) have never acknowledged Jesus as Lord. But you know this is true. Therefore, you are going to suffer the eternal consequences." Again your guess is as good or better than mine, but that's the way it feels to me.
Years ago I felt the need to proof text my beliefs by referencing particular verses of scripture. I no longer need to do that. But back when I did, I worked out an elaborate scriptural path out of hell. The idea was that even if you found yourself in hell, you didn't have to stay there if you didn't want to. Back then I also felt the need to share my deeply held convictions with other people, with other ministers in particular. I no longer feel the need to do that either. As I presented my case I found that the ministers not only disagreed with me, but were quite upset that I could believe there was an escape from the fiery flames of hell. It actually made them mad! Almost to a person they said, "If people can get out of hell, then my ministry is for nothing. I'm wasting my time." I'm just going to let you figure that logic out for yourself.
In case you're curious about my theory on a less than eternal hell, it involved Philippians 2:10-11 and Romans 10:9. I then combined that with 1 Peter 3:19-20 (that Jesus descended into hell and preached to the captives) mixed with a little Einsteinian time-warp theory and voila ! everyone for all time has a Biblical ticket out of hell.
I wrote a letter to that church with "Hot? Think about hell" sign. In the letter I talked about the good news of Jesus Christ. I suggested that their sign could instead read, "Hot? Our Sunday services are air conditioned." The next week the sign was gone. The evil Jesus seems to delight in forcing unrepentant sinners to bow before him and then throwing them into hell, a place of eternal torment. The good Jesus seems to want to help, to heal and to forgive. Why do so many people prefer to worship the evil Jesus? Hell if I know.
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